Directive: Autopilot
by MrChubbyBeak
Summary: Captain McCrea is determined to bring Earth back to what it once was - but now he has the aid of new allies, including fellow Starliner captains and all of the androids aboard their ships. Now all they need is time and hard work. Focus is on Auto.


_(Author's Notes: Introductory chapter to my new WALL__•__E fic that focuses on the re-colonization of humans with the help of robots, or in this case, androids. All of the characters that were originally robots in the movie are now androids. _

_This story mainly focuses on the contributions that the Autopilots [of the BnL starliners] make towards Earth's rebirth. Of course, there are still obvious elements of WALL__•__E/EVE._

_Thanks for looking!)_

_WALL__•_E © Pixar  


While the rest of the humans had warbled away to explore the area and greet WALL_•_E and EVE, Captain McCrea stayed behind to watch over the recently buried plant. He didn't take his eyes away from it as it swayed with a gentle breeze. Satisfaction swept over him by taking a long look at the plant in its rightful place.

A small red dot suddenly appeared beside the plant. The captain's eyes narrowed at it as he tried to deduce what it was. He dropped onto the ground and childishly slapped his hand on it, but the dot merely popped back up on the back of his hand.

Without warning, a forceful gale threatened to sweep him off his feet. Instinctively, he flung his body over the plant to protect it, almost squishing it in the process. He tucked his head into his chest as far as it would go to guard himself from the encroaching dust cloud.

Another starliner was docking at one of the decrepit BnL stations.

The captain waited for the cloud to dissipate. When it at last cleared and the murky sky could be viewed again, a thin layer of dirt covered him. As he straightened up, the rubble fell off him. The new starliner immediately caught his attention and he gaped at it in pure wonder. He hadn't expected another ship to join them so soon.

Like the Axiom, walkways connected themselves from the new ship and to the aged docking stations. In comparison to the Executive starliner, this other ship was rather small, and probably held about half the amount of passengers the Axiom could. It was armed with laser cannons and heavy armor so it looked bulkier than the starliner beside it.

"Hello there! Are you from the _Axiom_?"

McCrea snapped from his marveling when a woman began calling for him. The distant figure of a fairly tall, slender human waved at him from one of the stations. Initially, he was confused. Wouldn't all of the humans look the same? The _Axiom_ residents are short in stature and severely overweight. This person appeared like the people he had seen in the videos and pictures of "dancing".

"Yes – I'm the captain of the _Axiom_!" He yelled back. The woman motioned towards the ship she came from. More humans like her, and some humans that resembled the _Axiom's_ residents, cautiously poked their heads out to take a first look at the environment. Androids who worked on the ship also curiously peeked at their new home. Gradually, they began to make their way onto the docking platform. The first woman ran ahead of them, speeding down the station's stairs, onto the earth, and towards Captain McCrea's location.

It wasn't long before she stopped before him. She wore the same BnL uniform as him, making her the captain of the starliner she just emerged from, though she seemed a bit young for the job.

"I'm Brenda Quaroni, sir. Captain of the _Asteria_. It's real nice to meet you," she smiled warmly, holding out her hand for a handshake.

"Benjamin McCrea. Same here," McCrea bewilderedly took her hand, and she shook it before releasing it. He was still very baffled by her appearance and now by her odd customs. He had shaken hands with WALL_•_E, but doing the same action with a human was a somewhat different experience.

"My Auto got the Operation Recolonize alert, that's how we got here so fast. Do you still have the plant?"

"We've planted it right here," he looked down, and Brenda soon followed his gaze. She stepped back in surprise.

"This is the plant, huh?" She squatted and titled her head at the spindly thing, awe masked in her brown eyes, "You've done a good job keeping it healthy, captain," she pulled off one of her black gloves and ran her fingers over the dirt. This place of memories long gone was simply astounding to both of them, even if it was nothing like they had expected.

"Do you know if there are others coming?" McCrea asked.

"Yeah, I know of two other starliners making their way here. A normal ship called the _Dike_ and an executive ship named the _Ares_ should be dropping by soon. The _Dike_ is my 'liner's sister ship and the _Ares_ is an ally of ours," Brenda slipped off her other glove as she stood upright again, "haven't had the chance to contact the others yet."

Many of the humans from the _Asteria_ had begun to mingle with the former passengers of the _Axiom_. Both groups were obviously mystified with each other.

"Until we have a stable food source and shelter source, we'll have to use resources from the _Axiom_ and _Asteria_. Is that okay with you?" The _Asteria's_ captain faced her fellow commander.

"Of course. Hopefully this little guy is the start of all the farming we do."

"Oh, great! You seem to know a lot about how the Earth used to work. You and I should probably do a teaching session for everyone else. We won't get anywhere without their cooperation."

Brenda looked to the clusters of people. Most were chatting amongst themselves while others were either exploring nearby ruins or playing around with the androids from either one of the ships.

"Maybe our Autos can help us with this task. Can you call yours?" Brenda's hand went to the collar of the coat that was draped over her shoulders.

"Well…The autopilot of the _Axiom_ is currently powered down," McCrea frowned at the thought of his ship's Auto.

"How come?" Brenda questioned him, interested.

"He was putting everyone on board in danger because he was following instructions to not return back to Earth."

"A113?"

"A113," confirmed McCrea.

"I see. I was informed of those orders shortly after the plant alert went out. Your Auto can't be of harm anymore. I think it'll be fine if he's reactivated," the woman pressed a button on her collar, and a holographic screen projected out of it.

"I guess it's fine now. Go ahead," McCrea begrudgingly said.

The face of an android with sharply cut, shoulder length white hair and one visible red eye saluted to Brenda through the holo-transmission. She wore a BnL emblazoned hat and a white, black, and red uniform. Her other eye was covered by a black eye patch.

"Captain Quaroni. How may I be of service?"

"Auto, I'd like you to go to the _Axiom's_ bridge and reactivate its Autopilot unit. See me directly afterwards."

"Acknowledged ma'am," the female Auto saluted again and signed off. The holo-screen disappeared into thin air.

"Right, let's start rallying everyone," McCrea said, beginning to hobble towards his people. Brenda flashed a look of sympathy towards him as she began to follow him. The male captain caught the look and stopped in his tracks.

"How come you don't look like me?" He glanced back at her.

"My spaceship has been on a strict, but optional, five day-a-week exercise schedule since its creation. Buy n Large was experimenting with a dozen smaller starliners. Why?"

"Just wondering. Don't mind me." He started to waddle forward again, envious that Brenda and her companions could easily duplicate dancing and everything else he had seen while if he wanted to do those things, he'd have to work at it. Even if it took years, he was determined to learn everything that humans from the 2100s used to do, including dancing.

_Inside the Axiom_

The _Asteria's_ Autopilot approached base of the _Axiom's_ bridge. Instead of entering the small rotunda room where the entrance to the elevator was, rockets in her black combat boots turned on and she zipped up the length of the bridge.

In order to get in, she had to slip through a hole in the windows that was made by GO-4's drop to the ground below. On the way to her location, she had seen the disfigured jumble of an android, and thought nothing of it. Maybe destroyed androids were a normal thing on the _Axiom_.

Inside the main control room, the _Axiom's_ Auto was a crumpled mess of metal limbs on the black, glossy floor. His body was still connected to the Axiom by a thick black and white bar.

She strode over to the fallen android and disengaged his service bar. Reaching around, she snapped open a skin-color door on the back of his neck and fiddled with a few switches that were hidden inside. A small red light flickered on beside the series of buttons. The interior of the door had the number "10-000000" embedded in it. Once done, she closed the door and retracted herself, standing rigid in front of the other Auto.

The _Axiom's_ Auto started to come back to life. Like his female counterpart, he had a single visible red iris, black sclera eye. When his eye shot open, it prominently displayed in white and red writing, "rebooting". A large, round, and white eye patch shielded his other eye.

It took a few moments before the reboot sign disappeared from his eye and he started to prop himself up, onto his hands.

"Address yourself, Auto," his voice was still emotionless, and his expression matched it.

"I am Auto 12-142105, Autopilot of the _Asteria_, sir," her voice was equally monotonous.

The male Autopilot was steadily making his way to his feet.

"What is your business here?" His tone had become irritated.

"I am under orders to retrieve you, sir," she was remaining cool under the other Auto's cold gaze. The _Axiom's_ Auto was on his feet again.

"We should not be here," he scowled, his hand skimming over the computer's keyboard. A holo-screen displayed an image of what lay outside of the _Axiom's_ boundaries. He shook his head at the scene of humans and androids in harmony, frolicking in the currently dilapidated Earth.

"I understand you attempted to reinforce A113. We are here now. There is nothing we can do about it, sir," the woman turned her back to the man, "your captain is requesting your presence. Please follow me," she walked over to the bridge's elevator, her movements stiff and inhuman.

Once again sporting no expression, the male Auto followed suit. He was still to obey his captain, even if he bore a slight hatred for him at the moment.

_Earth, Not Far From the _Axiom_ and the _Asteria

Captains McCrea and Quaroni stood beside each other in front of the gathered humans and androids. Before beginning their explanation on what they planned for Earth, Brenda suggested they wait for other starliners to arrive, and for the return of their Autopilots. In the meantime, WALL_•_E and EVE had joined the two captains, still holding hands and looking content with their union. WALL_•_E's pet cockroach, Hal, peacefully rested on his owner's shoulder.

The first to come back were the Autos. As they neared their leaders, their rocket powered boots deactivated, and they landed on the ground with a solid _thud_. WALL_•_E heard their noisy landing and looked about to find the source of the sound, only to be scared out of his wits by the resurrected Autopilot, his enemy. He gave a squeak of terror and started to rapidly shake. Hal jittered along with him.

EVE instantly went to his aid, jumping in front of him and activating her quasar cannon. The activation made her forearm and hand morph into the appropriate shape. From under her dark gray visor, a look of pure determination radiated from her eyes.

The _Axiom's_ Autopilot merely gave the undaunted gynoid a stony glimpse before saluting to his captain.

"Sir," the android dropped his salute. His single eye bore down into the captain's. Captain McCrea matched the android's stare, confident in confronting this creature for another time. Compared to McCrea, Quaroni, and the two lovebirds, the original Auto was a giant.

"Auto, nice to see you. I want to speak with you," McCrea motioned away from their little circle of humans and robots, wanting to get down to business straightaway.

"Pardon?" The _Asteria's_ Autopilot brought her steely gaze to McCrea. She had been obediently standing beside Brenda since her arrival. The other Auto glanced between his counterpart and his captain. Brenda now intervened, speaking to her puzzled Auto.

"Uh…Auto...My Auto! What's his ID?"

"10-000000, ma'am," the femme Autopilot replied, recalling the code in the android's neck compartment.

"Right. And yours? It was twelve-something, I know that much," Brenda looked around herself, as if searching the soil would help her locate the answer.

"12-142-"

"Got it. From now on, you're 'Ten-Zero'," Brenda flicked her chin at the male Auto, not minding she cut off her own Auto, "and you're 'Twelve-Fourteen'," she did the same to her Autopilot. "Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," they systematically responded.

"Okay, Ten-Zero, come with me," McCrea shuffled towards a looming pile of garbage, guiding his Auto away from the others.

Once McCrea and Ten-Zero had sauntered a short distance away, EVE directed her cannon at Twelve-Fourteen.

"Hey, wait! She's with us, she won't do anything!" Brenda waved a hand in front of the muzzle of EVE's cannon, pushing it upwards to the dull sky. Understanding Brenda's words, but still looking distrustful, the cannon reverted back to arm form.

WALL_•_E popped out from behind EVE. The smile quickly returned to her face. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and nuzzled her nose against him. WALL_•_E's face flushed with color, and he interlocked fingers with her again. The little cockroach skittered between EVE and WALL_•_E.

Twelve-Fourteen's eyes wandered between the two enamored androids and where McCrea stood with Ten-Zero. She was intrigued by both situations before her. The display of affection WALL_•_E and EVE were performing in front of her was something she'd never seen before. She also wondered what the other Auto had done so wrong that he needed a one-on-one discussion with his commander.

Her intense thinking was broken by Brenda's screaming.

"TAKE COVER!"

With no second thoughts, Twelve-Fourteen grabbed her captain and made a beeline to the nearest metal fragments of old buildings. She hadn't even registered what was going on, but she could tell by Brenda's tone that they needed safety. WALL_•_E and EVE were behind them, but Ten-Zero and Captain McCrea took refuge in a different spot.

The four clustered together behind a protruding steel slab. The sweethearts kept each other comfortable, closely sitting next to each other. The android Auto had a hand on her captain's shoulder, as if she were a child who could dash off at any given moment. Twelve-Fourteen opened her mouth to ask Brenda what was going on, but the captain cut her off.

"Sorry, incoming huge dust storm. I saw ten of them out there. BnL ships. The others have finally decided to show up."

_(End Notes: No, not all of my OCs are going to be "normal", or skinny like Brenda and unlike the _Axiom's_ former residents. I'm trying to avoid Mary Sues, but I don't really know if that's working so far._

_There will be more description on WALL__•__E and EVE's android appearance next chapter._

_Again, thanks for reading!)_


End file.
